The Buck Stops

With the Supt.

As a current school administrator in New Hampshire and a taxpayer in Rochester for the past 16 years, I am appalled at the news of the $200,000 deficit that was announced at the Dec. 20 WNWSU board meeting.

For the superintendent to blame the deficit on "expenditures made against grants and revenues that didn't materialize or revenues that were smaller than expected" is totally unacceptable. If you don't have the grant money, it is clear you don't spend money that is not in the budget. To do so, is irresponsible and grounds for dismissal.

Who is providing oversight of the business manager? It should be the superintendent and the school board and they should be held responsible. To place the blame on incompetent business managers for the past several years does not address the bigger problem of accountability of school personnel.

If the superintendent and the school board cannot provide adequate supervision and exercise good judgment in hiring a qualified person for the position of business manager, then they should be replaced.

The citizens of Rochester deserve more competent school officials.

Arthur Aaronson

Rochester